Wrapping up a fifth year of Wis-Kino

There have been plenty of big changes for Wis-Kino over the last year.

Madison's short filmmaking and screening organization has seen new leadership, has moved to a new home, and has celebrated its fifth birthday over the course of 2007. As always, though, the primary focus is the films, with another bumper crop shown over the course of 11 monthly screenings. For the final month, though, the group will present a retrospective showcasing nearly two dozen of its contributors' favorites.

"What makes this screening different is that it will be a look back on the Wis-Kino films shown this year," writes co-director Josh Klessig in an announcement requesting suggestions for entries. He ultimately compiled a selection of standouts from over the year.

The special Wis-Kino 2007 retrospective will be held at the Mercury Lounge on Saturday, December 15, with the show starting at 8 p.m. The screening will be followed by a party featuring DJ Angelfire and DJ Xenophile, a seasonal blowout to end the year. All films will also be compiled onto a DVD that will be released in unison with the Wis-Kino Fall 2007 Kabaret collection sometime early next year.

One of these films schedule for the retrospective was among the half-dozen shown on November 18, the final regular Wis-Kino screening of the year. The monthly theme of "Things that don't exist" was taken up a couple of the entries, hitting the screen on a quiet Sunday night before Thanksgiving at Escape Java Joint.

A list and brief descriptions of the films screened at Wis-Kino in November follows, a couple of which are available online for viewing:

Turdus Retardo by by Heidi Johnson This video was made as the visual accompaniment to a bass clarinet solo concert in Mississippi a week before the screening. Johnson performed a solo dance at double speed in front of the camera, the footage subsequently undergoing digital compositing by Jim Vannes. Johnson later edited the final piece with input from WYOU technical director Eric Allin and the music's composer, UW-Whitewater professor Jeff Heriott. "It creates a place where time is expanded," she says.

Wis-Kino is also looking ahead to its 2008 season, for which the screening dates and monthly themes are now set. Every gathering is set for the final Sunday of the month:

January 20 -- Cool or Uncool Presence

February 17 -- Love/Sex

March 23 -- Music Videos

April 18-20 -- Angst, Popsicles, and War; and the Spring Kabaret

May 18 -- Fair, Fare, Phare

June 22 -- Overused French Phrases

July 20 -- Sci-Fi

August 24 -- Animation

September 21 -- Dios Mio (My God)

October 19 -- Halloween or Scary

November 20-22 -- Signs; and the Fall Kabaret

December 12 -- Year-end retrospective

All screenings will be at Escape Java Joint with the exception of the Fall Kabaret and retrospective. "The point," emphasizes Wis-Kino, is to "make films that you're excited about sharing. And, of course, you don't have to bring a film to come and enjoy the screening!"